Ex-DAS head convicted of illegal wiretapping

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Fernando Tabares, former director of Colombia’s intelligence agency DAS, is convicted for his role in the illegal wiretapping of government opponents, and will serve eight years in prison due to a plea bargain, reports El Espectador.

The ex-official said he accepted the conviction and apologized to the victims, admitting that he had targeted judges and opposition leaders for political reasons.

“There were no legal reasons to follow them, we only did it to discredit them,” he said.

He pledged to continue his cooperation with authorities so that all facts of the case are known.

Tabares is the second person convicted in court for the wiretapping scandal, following Jorge Alberto Lagos, the deputy director of counterintelligence was sentenced to eight years in prison. Many other high level officials from the Uribe administration have been investigated for their involvement in the scandal.

Various officials have been found guilty by the inspector general, who does not have the power to issue jail terms, but earlier in October banned Tabares from public office for 20 years.